Hisham Sarwar
There is so much available on the internet that covers various aspects of affiliate marketing. But those who are new to the concept, need to know the basics of affiliate marketing. The process of affiliate marketing is the practice of recommending companies’ products or services to potential customers, generating a sale, and earning a commission in return. Affiliate marketing generally involves four parties. It has the affiliate website, the affiliate network, the advertiser, and the buyer.
The idea behind affiliate marketing is that it promotes other people’s products often through an affiliate network and actually earns a commission. The process is based on revenue sharing i.e. if you have a product and want to sell more, through the affiliate program you can offer promoters a financial incentive. If you want to make money without a product, then you can promote a product and earn income as an affiliate marketer.
In order to help you make your first affiliate marketing sale and make money, the following are the things that you need to do:
1- Select a niche:
First of all, you need to decide which niche you want to select for your marketing. It is no doubt one of the most overwhelming steps but once you do it, it is much easier to go forward. If you have not decided yet then identify which topics are you passionate about. The area you are interested in has the ability to provide you with enough money? Or is there more money in the selected nice?
2- Research affiliate programs:
The second step requires you to find out what is out there in terms of programs and products to promote. Now, you need to dig a bit deeper into your niche and choose an affiliate program. It will take some work but choosing the right program will make it worth your while. When you are choosing an affiliate program, you want to make sure what type of merchants use the program and the other similar sellers use the network. You need to know how much commission you will likely make from the products. So, sign up for programs that are profitable and generate sufficient return on investment. Websites such as Clickbank, CJ, and Amazon pay well to get the banner codes and put them on your website and make money on each sale.
3- Build a site:
Once you complete the first two steps, you need to put all your research into action. Fortunately, because of technological advancements, building a website isn’t as complicated as it was in the past. The easiest way is to start using WordPress for setting up a website. After that, you must buy an address for your website i.e. the domain. If your domain is on address then purchase and set up hosting. Choose a reputable provider because your entire affiliate marketing business depends on it. Even if you buy the domain from a different company and the hosting from another, you need to link the two together. Then install WordPress, install your theme, and create content.
4- Produce great content:
Once your website is all set up and has joined an affiliate program, all you need to do is to produce good-quality content. You must aim for establishing your website as an authority site in your niche which only is done by creating high-quality content. For example, if you want to become an affiliate of selling good sneakers, your content should be focused on the pros/cons of different brands, comparing them with one another and telling your audience everything they would ever want to know.
5- Build an audience:
Now, it is time to build your audience and the best way to do that is with the help of social media. You can choose from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. based on your niche and build up an interesting following. Social media is a great way to build relationships and promote your products to them.
6- Promote affiliate offers:
Once you have gone through all the steps, now it is time to continue adding value by promoting products that will be helpful for your audience. Promote your offers by writing real reviews about products. Remember that your audience relies on your opinion so build up trust by being honest.
You don’t just have to point out the positives of a product and ignore the negatives ones. Mention useful features with compelling images but also reveal the bad ones. The product review can then be linked to the page where your audience can actually make a purchase this is when your first sale will be made.
